Illinois #13 in 12/8 AP Poll

Status
Not open for further replies.
#26      
EmeraldCityIllini
IlliniFan42 said:
And Nebraska beat us at home last year. They were a very weird team, losing games they should've won and winning games they should've lost. And their season ended being crowned king of the losers.
Click to expand...

I think they got us in Lincoln last year - don't think we had the opportunity to get them at SFC.

That game sucked. Outrebounded them by 20, but went 10-42 from 3 and 7 total assists in an OT game. If you wanted a posterchild for the worst of the offensive experience last year - that one was it.
 
#27      
Fighter of the Nightman
IlliniFan42 said:
And Nebraska beat us at home last year. They were a very weird team, losing games they should've won and winning games they should've lost. And their season ended being crowned king of the losers.
Click to expand...
Of all of the games last year, I think the loss at Nebraska might have been the overall worst performance ... including both beatdowns vs. Maryland, who at least proved itself to be an actually very good team. That was the first time since the 2023 season where it looked like an Illini team wanted to be anywhere else than on the court, until of course we strung together a Fake Rally.
 
#28      
IlliniFan42
EmeraldCityIllini said:
I think they got us in Lincoln last year - don't think we had the opportunity to get them at SFC.

That game sucked. Outrebounded them by 20, but went 10-42 from 3 and 7 total assists in an OT game. If you wanted a posterchild for the worst of the offensive experience last year - that one was it.
Click to expand...
Right you are, which makes me feel slightly better!
 
#29      
Grandpa
If both beatdowns against Maryland and the biggest loss ever (43 points) were better than the Nebraska game, we really sucked bad a lot of games!
 
#31      
WeWillWhen
Flyin' Illini said:
They are a football school.
Click to expand...
Sad Jim Carrey GIF
 
#33      
RabidDawgClassic
IlliniFan42 said:
And Nebraska beat us at home last year. They were a very weird team, losing games they should've won and winning games they should've lost. And their season ended being crowned king of the losers.
Click to expand...

Nebraska has never won an NCAA Tournament game, but the Huskers have never lost a College Basketball Crown Tournament game. That’ll probably never be done again.
 
#38      
Juju
Yet again, ESPN praises pretty much all other teams, but gives us a backhanded compliment, if you can even call it that. "Sure, Illinois beat the 13th ranked team at the time by 13 points, but they're still only 2-4 against that SEC team and they hadn't beaten a top-15 SEC team for 35 years until last Saturday(we'll just leave out that a big reason for that is because they've barely played top-15 SEC teams in that timespan)."

ESPN's weird obsession with both SEC football and basketball has now pretty much gotten as eye-rollingly lame as when they couldn't stop riding ACC basketball's uh...junk in the past. ESPN in the '90s and maybe through the early 2000s was one-sided in who they favored in their reporting, but nowhere NEAR on the same level as they are now. And at least back in those days, there was at least quality reporting mixed in with the bias. Now, if you aren't an SEC team in football or basketball(Duke and UNC being obvious exceptions), you are nothing more than an annoying requirement to them when it comes to reporting on your team. ESPN has been borderline unwatchable for a long time, but the past couple years has become SO unwatchable that I can only stomach a viewing when a team I'm a fan of or a very big game/event is exclusively airing on their networks. Even then, they're still insufferable.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20251209-102302.png
    Screenshot_20251209-102302.png
    330.9 KB · Views: 112
#39      
NarrowJ
Juju said:
Yet again, ESPN praises pretty much all other teams, but gives us a backhanded compliment, if you can even call it that. "Sure, Illinois beat the 13th ranked team at the time by 13 points, but they're still only 2-4 against that SEC team and they hadn't beaten a top-15 SEC team for 35 years until last Saturday(we'll just leave out that a big reason for that is because they've barely played top-15 SEC teams in that timespan)."

ESPN's weird obsession with both SEC football and basketball has now pretty much gotten as eye-rollingly lame as when they couldn't stop riding ACC basketball's uh...junk in the past. ESPN in the '90s and maybe through the early 2000s was one-sided in who they favored in their reporting, but nowhere NEAR on the same level as they are now. And at least back in those days, there was at least quality reporting mixed in with the bias. Now, if you aren't an SEC team in football or basketball(Duke and UNC being obvious exceptions), you are nothing more than an annoying requirement to them when it comes to reporting on your team. ESPN has been borderline unwatchable for a long time, but the past couple years has become SO unwatchable that I can only stomach a viewing when a team I'm a fan of or a very big game/event is exclusively airing on their networks. Even then, they're still insufferable.
Click to expand...

Even if we forget the obvious SEC bias... what the heck do historical records have to do with this season's rankings?
 
#40      
Fighter of the Nightman
Everyone's daily reminder (and a special shoutout to the folks on the football side of things who still treat College Gameday as this truly national, prestigious thing that functions as it did back in the mid-2000s...) that ESPN is a marketing arm for the SEC and to a WAY lesser extent the ACC when it comes to college sports and little more. They have a vested financial interest in the SEC getting attention and praise, and they have a vested interest in the Big Ten (and to a way lesser extent the Big XII) NOT getting the same praise, as it's money straight out of ESPN's pocket and into the arms of CBS, NBC and especially FOX.

FOX functions as the same propaganda arm for the Big Ten, but the difference is that the stiff, unimaginative and often boring delivery in which FOX presents sports broadcasts has led them to maintain this basic "floor" of professionalism, whereas ESPN often comes across as childish in its bias.
 
#42      
skyIdub
I am a clubhouse leader of ESPN hate.
I watch zero programming and it’s been that way since 2010.
Only Illinois (and my pro teams) games on ESPN that I’m left with no other choice will find their way to my household.

A solid 16 year boycott of their garbage content.
 
#43      
Curbelo Fanboy
Illini are ranked where they should be. Want to move up, need to establish the ability to play a consistently high level and not be so subject to the 7 for 32 nights from 3 that make losses likely to even mediocre teams.

ESPN = garbage for analysis. The only worthwhile thing on there is 1. game coverage 2. 30 for 30 docs 3. PTI w/ Kornheiser & Wilbon is still funny when I watch it. Othewise it is MSNBC level of bias if you are a conservative or Fox News level of bias if you are a liberal. And on the college football front, they own the playoff so have a serious financial vested interest in rigging the game to get the teams that they cover & benefit from the most into the playoff scheme.
 
#44      
NarrowJ
Curbelo Fanboy said:
Illini are ranked where they should be. Want to move up, need to establish the ability to play a consistently high level and not be so subject to the 7 for 32 nights from 3 that make losses likely to even mediocre teams.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with them being ranked where they should be

But I think we should all take a step back on the 3 point shooting, as pretty much every team has a poor shooting night

#1 Arizona has shot 18% from three in a game and 20% from three in another game
#2 Michigan has shot 4-25 in a game and another game they shot 5-25
#3 Duke has had 3 separate games where they shot over 25 threes and only made 7
#4 Iowa St shot 5-22 in a game
#5 UConn shot 5-25 in a game
#6 Purdue (one of the best shooting teams in all of CBB) shot 4-18 in their most recent game
#7 Houston shot 8-32 in a game
#8 Gonzaga shot 3-22 in a game
#9 Michigan St has had games of 1-14 and 6-25
#10 BYU takes a ton of 3s and have shot sub-30% in a few games
#11 Louisville just shot 8-37 in a game

Probably need to stop there, but the point is that variance is going to happen
 
#45      
Curbelo Fanboy
NarrowJ said:
Totally agree with them being ranked where they should be

But I think we should all take a step back on the 3 point shooting, as pretty much every team has a poor shooting night

#1 Arizona has shot 18% from three in a game and 20% from three in another game
#2 Michigan has shot 4-25 in a game and another game they shot 5-25
#3 Duke has had 3 separate games where they shot over 25 threes and only made 7
#4 Iowa St shot 5-22 in a game
#5 UConn shot 5-25 in a game
#6 Purdue (one of the best shooting teams in all of CBB) shot 4-18 in their most recent game
#7 Houston shot 8-32 in a game
#8 Gonzaga shot 3-22 in a game
#9 Michigan St has had games of 1-14 and 6-25
#10 BYU takes a ton of 3s and have shot sub-30% in a few games
#11 Louisville just shot 8-37 in a game

Probably need to stop there, but the point is that variance is going to happen
Click to expand...
Variance is going to happen but we have shown a propensity to shoot it 35 plus times a game even when not hitting them. The games you list are primarily games where teams shot fewer than 30 3's. You can withstand the awful shooting nights when your offense isn't so 3 dependent. I thought our mix was perfect vs Tennessee. Ended up with 28 attempts for the game and that was inflated in the last few minutes when we were just clock killing & jacked up several late clock 3's.

Mid 20's as a general rule seems a solid # to me. Then if we're hot that night then by all means keep shooting. I'm fine with 15 for 35. 7 for 35 not so much. It's not an absolute of course, more of a general rule. If a team is consistently shooting 35 3's a night that is an indicator they are very 3 dependent & subject to higher level of variance based on their 3 pt shooting.
 
#46      
Guest
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Everyone's daily reminder (and a special shoutout to the folks on the football side of things who still treat College Gameday as this truly national, prestigious thing that functions as it did back in the mid-2000s...) that ESPN is a marketing arm for the SEC and to a WAY lesser extent the ACC when it comes to college sports and little more. They have a vested financial interest in the SEC getting attention and praise, and they have a vested interest in the Big Ten (and to a way lesser extent the Big XII) NOT getting the same praise, as it's money straight out of ESPN's pocket and into the arms of CBS, NBC and especially FOX.

FOX functions as the same propaganda arm for the Big Ten, but the difference is that the stiff, unimaginative and often boring delivery in which FOX presents sports broadcasts has led them to maintain this basic "floor" of professionalism, whereas ESPN often comes across as childish in its bias.
Click to expand...
So, I have been meaning to ask this, and this is a nice opportunity to have my question tie in with Nightman’s post, thus giving it more gravitas. Anyway, is this why the respective "sides" don’t share replays? As far as I know, games that were broadcast on CBS, Peacock (and NBC?), and Fox are all available for replay on Big Ten Plus. But not ESPN (and presumably ABC), and SECN games. I don’t think this was always true, at least for ESPN, but I am not sure. It just seems kind of petty if true. It’s not like a lot of people watch replays, not to mention not a lot of people subscribe to Big Ten Plus, so what exactly do they have to lose with a reciprocity agreement in regards to replays?
The TN game is not being replayed on Plus.
 
#47      
NarrowJ
Curbelo Fanboy said:
Variance is going to happen but we have shown a propensity to shoot it 35 plus times a game even when not hitting them. The games you list are primarily games where teams shot fewer than 30 3's. You can withstand the awful shooting nights when your offense isn't so 3 dependent. I thought our mix was perfect vs Tennessee. Ended up with 28 attempts for the game and that was inflated in the last few minutes when we were just clock killing & jacked up several late clock 3's.

Mid 20's as a general rule seems a solid # to me. Then if we're hot that night then by all means keep shooting. I'm fine with 15 for 35. 7 for 35 not so much. It's not an absolute of course, more of a general rule. If a team is consistently shooting 35 3's a night that is an indicator they are very 3 dependent & subject to higher level of variance based on their 3 pt shooting.
Click to expand...

Don’t think we’ve shot 35 of them in any of the games we’ve shot it poorly… 30, but ok, they’re wide open looks… you can’t force the ball into the paint when the opponent is crowding it, so “shoot less 3s” isn’t always easy nor is it always optimal

We’ve shot 35 threes in 2 of our games so far, we’re not approaching it any differently than any of these other top teams
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back